Lake Sankey, a student at the Young Brothers Martial Arts Institute in Butler, breaks a board during the recent U.S. Martial Arts Tournament March 8. Sankey won first in breaking for the black belt 15-and-under division

Students from Young Brothers Tae Kwon Do Institute in Cranberry Township and Butler competed at the 35th U.S. Open Martial Arts Championships recently in Charleston, W.Va.

Hundreds of participants from Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, New York, North Carolina and Florida competed in the event held March 8 at the University of Charleston.

From Cranberry, first-place trophy winners included: Master Robert Zang, men's lightweight black belt sparring and third degree and higher patterns; Michael Sybert, men's black belt breaking; Chip Sargent, adult color belt breaking (also second in color belt patterns); Matthew Marshall, men's color belt sparring; Adam Dorko, age 15-and-16 sparring (also second in breaking); and Josh Stebbins, age 9-and-10 patterns and sparring.

Second-place finishers: Jeanna Sybert, Nicole Kukieza and Wes Omer in sparring; Master Aaron Hall, Kukieza, Sharon Faulkner and Daniel Popp in patterns; and Popp in breaking.

Third-place finishers: Rob Faulkner, Sharon Faulkner, Nathan Walker, Perri Corsello, Carter Moriarity, Steve Fey and Popp in sparring; and Jeanna Sybert and Damon Ziter in patterns.From Butler, first-place trophy winners included Lake Sankey, age 9-10 black belt sparring and patterns as well as age 15-and-under black belt breaking; and Ronnie Sankey, senior women's black belt sparring and patterns.Second-place finishers: Matt Stutz, color belt sparring.Third-place finishers: Ron Sankey, senior men's black belt patterns; and Danielle Smith, age 13-14 female black belt patterns.The Butler school is under the direction of Master Tim Curci. Master Zang is head of the Cranberry school.

Michael Sybert, 18, of Middlesex Township, a third-degree black belt instructor at Young Brothers Tae Kwon Do Institute in Cranberry Township, is on his final approach to breaking eight boards and winning the men's black belt breaking competition at the U.S. Open Martial Arts Championships in Charleston, W.Va., on March 8. It takes six men to hold the eight 1-inch boards. Sybert is a senior at Mars High School.